PETALING JAYA: Public transportations and flights can now begin operating at full capacity, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced today.
The Senior Minister (Defence) said these include public buses, ferries, rail services and express buses nationwide.
However, service providers and passengers are required to adhere to all standard operating procedures (SOPs) outlined by the government to ensure safety and minimise the risk of infection.
“For vehicles that allow standing passengers, the passengers must practise social distancing. Additionally, everyone must wear face mask at all times, download the MySejahtera app and use hand sanitisers when on board,” he said in his daily press conference in Putrajaya today.
“As for flights, passengers’ temperature must be recorded before boarding, while wearing face mask is also compulsory,” he said.
“For express buses, which can now also operate 24 hours, operators have to register all passengers through the MySejahtera app or manually. Buses must also be sanitised after every journey,” he added.
Ismail’s announcement follows the lifting of various restrictions under the recovery movement control order (RMCO), which started on Wednesday, including the lifting of a restriction on interstate travel.
It also comes just a day after the minister dismissed Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd’s announcement that it was ending social distancing measures for all its train services, claiming this restriction was still applicable.
Previously, all public transportations were only allowed to operate at half capacity, as the government looks to minimise contact among passengers.
Other than public transportations, Ismail announced the lifting of the requirement to have only members of the same family living in the same house to travel in the same car.
He added that the government has also agreed not to limit the operating hours of e-hailing services and taxis, and the cap of only two passengers per ride.
“However, we encourage the use of the MySejahtera app for contact tracing, and to only use cashless payment. The use of face mask is also mandatory for both drivers and passengers.” he said.
Ismail said the decision was made after obtaining feedback from the Transport Ministry, which tabled its proposed SOPs during the special ministerial meeting on Covid-19 today.
